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Heliolisk is an interesting Pokemon. It's as if Game Freak wanted the perfect Water Pokemon counter, and they bring up this. Immunity to Water type moves whilst boasting Electric STAB essentially makes it a Water type's worst nightmare. Adding insult to injury Starmie and Greninja are perhaps the only Water types that outspeed it in standard; courtesy of it's odd and signature 109 Speed in standard (it only shares this speed with Durant, which is not common) not even Keldeo can outpace it. Heliolisk can also be multi-weather dependent due to Solar Power which essentially gives a Life Orb boost except that it has the same boost as +1 Special Attack. It's also got sweet coverage moves it Surf, Grass Knot and Focus Blast, and a coveted Ghost immunity is also an edgy perk. It's notable flaws are it's extremely pitiful defense and a crippling Fighting and Ground weakness, two common physically based attacks. It's still a very good Pokemon, though, so if your team has problems with Water types Heliolisk is a pretty good pick.

A blistering 522 Speed makes Heliolisk an extremely potent revenge killer capable of outpacing Choice Scarf 108s such as Terrakion and Keldeo. Volt Switch works well in tandem with it's speed to gain early momentum. Thunderbolt is primary hard hitting STAB etc, but use Thunder on a Rain Team. Speaking of Rain use Surf on Rain teams to nail Ground types such as Gliscor and Hippowdon. Grass Knot helps against Gastrodon and maybe Quagsire that otherwise may be a problem. Hidden Power Ice dents things like Garchomp and Dragonite. Focus Blast doesn't help as much as HP Ice does but it's still an option. It notably hits Mega Lucario (although ExtremeSpeed and Vaccum Wave are a problem) and Magnezone,

This only works in the rain where Heliolisk can stall the living daylights out of things with a Sub up. Sub blocks fatal hits/gives a shield etc. Toxic cripples most things, and helps with your Stall. Parabolic Charge may sound weird in competitive sets but extra recovery on a stall set isn't really bad. Thunderbolt is for consistent, strong STAB while Thunder is the strongest but will miss unless you're in rain (which you always should be). Hidden Power Ice rounds up pseudo BoltBeam coverage, although if things like Garchomp aren't your concern Surf is stronger. Protect helps with stall, again.

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I have found Heliolisk to be a great addition to my sun team. By having the ability solar power, you get a 1.5x special attack boost to its 109 base special attack, which is quite nice and puts a big hurting on the water types that would otherwise stop your sun team. Here is a possible set up.

The idea of this set is to attack before anyone else, faint the enemy, and get out of there. Choice scarf will increase Heliolisk's base 109 speed enough to be faster than anything under a base 150 speed (only Deoxys-speed and Ninjask naturally outspeed it). Solar power will make you hit very hard. Volt switch allows a one-turn STAB hit, so that you can then switch to another pokemon that won't die in one hit. Parabolic charge is to kill off a weakened enemy and heal your solar-power damage; thunderbolt can be used just for more power. The third move is for a coverage move to hit anything that resists electric attacks. Dark pulse just adds extra coverage and grass-knot can help against dangerous ground types. The final move is for raw suicidal power. Thunder can be used if you want to gamble with 70% accuracy by default to get major damage with solar powered STAB, or it can be your ace-in-the-hole against competing rain teams who think ending your sun will end your reign. Hyper beam is for an almost guaranteed KO, since you have solar power and STAB increasing this move's power; however, the recharge will pretty much guarantee that Heliolisk gets killed by the next switch-in, so use it as a last resort.

Choice Specs are there to ramp up the Special Attack to rediculous hights. It's easier to have another pokemon set up rain for Helioisk. Thunder is the most powerful STAB move. Surf gets psudo-STAB from rain. Focus Blast is there for beating on Steel types. Dark Pulse exists simply to kill Metagross.

Heliolisk is easily my favourite Pokémon in this generation. I use it comfortably in an OU rain team, and I find it's a solid as heck counter and or check to a lot of common Pokémon in the current standings (Azumarill, Greninja, Talonflame). However, I don't doubt that he's not without weakness, and I find Gastrodon is a great support for the lil electro-lizard.

I haven't tried Thunder, as it forces a lot more reliance on rain or U-Turn (didn't realise it was available), but he seems to cover a lot of options with this set. Switch in on a water move comfortably and threaten a switch or start sweeping with a good coverage of move types.

As I mentioned, Gastrodon is a great partner, providing defensive bulk, recovery options and good rain support.

Got Pokémon X. Intend to get either Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire.
No info about my Friend Safari.
Vivillon Pattern: Polar
Looking for nicknamed, shiny, and/or have a hidden ability in GTS and may battle at anytime.
If interested, send a private message with your ID #.

I would have chosen either Pinsir or Heracross to be the POTW for this week, given that it marks the 50th anniversary of the BEATLES' arrival in America! You know, because Pinsir and Heracross are beetle-based Pokemon.